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Matt turned his attention to Colton. These people were getting on his last nerves. “Where is the evidence that Violet uncovered?” he asked.
“Safe.”
“I want it.”
“This isn’t your investigation, Costa.”
Matt wanted to punch the smirk off Colton’s face.
“What did she find?”
“Evidence that Theodore Duncan, the chief of staff to the mayor, intentionally installed the virus that crashed city hall.”
“He could argue that he wasn’t aware of the virus,” Matt said.
“He could,” Colton said. “Yet his sister is married to the head of the housing commission overseeing all grant writing for homeless, transitional and permanent housing. His sister is married to Jonathan Avila, the son of FBI agent Rebecca Chavez.”
He was grinning, as if he had won some unknown game. Matt didn’t care. Let him take the win on this.
Matt remembered what Elena said to Rebecca last night. She was asking about her family, and it had seemed out of place. “You knew last night.”
“I knew as soon as Colton found out. He reports regularly. I wanted her to know that we were closing in. That I knew about her family. But we have to tread carefully.”
“You tipped your hand.”
“I needed her to make a mistake,” Elena said.
“That mistake may have been what got Thornton killed.”
“You have no evidence of that,” Lex said. “Let’s not start casting blame for every little thing. We had legitimate reasons to keep Colton’s involvement secret. We have a lot of little pieces, but no smoking gun. That’s what the grand jury was for—to put all these pieces into one clear indictment.”
Matt understood that—white-collar crimes were a bitch to prosecute—but that ended when Craig Dyson was killed.
He said, “We have cause to bring Duncan and Avila in for questioning.”
“Duncan’s mother is Dorothy Duncan.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Matt snapped.
“A criminal defense lawyer for the top firm in Los Angeles,” Elena said. “She’ll eat us alive if we don’t have impeccable evidence of wrongdoing. Jonathan may be the son of an FBI agent, but he’s also the son-in-law of a powerful attorney.”
Matt had a headache. He switched gears.
“Colangelo, according to Violet, killed Chen. He didn’t kill Dyson, but the two murders must have been coordinated. Someone had to have planted the rope and grappling hook on the roof. It was top-grade equipment. Someone had the skill. Dyson’s murder was professional and well executed. Chen’s murder was quick and bold. But they were orchestrated by the same person.” Or people. Considering how many people profited from the grant program, it wouldn’t surprise Matt that a criminal cabal was running the entire operation while he and the LAPD were chasing the wind.
“Who?” Peter asked. “Because proving it is going to be next to impossible. You’re not going to get warrants for a fishing expedition.”
“Who loses the most if the grand jury investigation begins?” Matt asked.
The others considered. “Numerous nonprofits may lose their funding. Some of the directors make a million, more, a year. Travel is paid for, cars, perks,” Peter said.
“Contractors,” Lex offered. “The Venice Beach project, which is costing the city over two hundred million dollars, might be halted. That would rack up costs, contractors would lose money, financing. Potentially go bankrupt. The Sunflower Group Homes is also on the list—they might be shut down or audited.”
“Exposure,” Will said.
“Excuse me?” Matt said.
“Violet has been leaking information about our investigation to a podcast, LA with A&I. They don’t have a huge audience, it’s mostly tech people and gamers. But when the press wouldn’t pick up when I leaked information about Supervisor Lydia Zarian’s sister, Muriel Coplin, profiting off Angel Homes, Violet gave the documents to the podcast. It’s all public record, but not only do you have to look deep for it, the connections aren’t at first obvious. Violet and I drew the lines to make the connection easier to see.”
